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WCW World Heavyweight Championship
|oldest=Ric Flair (51 years) |youngest=The Giant (23 years) |heaviest=The Giant (500 lb (230 kg)) |lightest=David Arquette (150 lb (68 kg)) |pastnames= |titleretired=December 9, 2001 (unified with the WWF Championship) }} The World Championship Wrestling (WCW) World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It existed within WCW between 1991 and 2001. Following the acquisition of WCW by World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in March 2001, it became one of two world titles in the WWF, with its name being immediately abbreviated to the WCW Championship and finally, the World Championship. It complemented the WWF Championship until December 2001, when both titles were unified. The following year, its physical belt design, known historically as the Big Gold Belt, was restored by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE—formerly WWF) to represent the World Heavyweight Championship. The championship was generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes rather than contend in direct competition. History Formation In December 1988, Ted Turner purchased Jim Crockett Promotions, which had promoted under the name "NWA World Championship Wrestling". While the promotion remained a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the use of the NWA name was gradually reduced on televised programming, in favor of the name "World Championship Wrestling", or "WCW". On January 11, 1991, Ric Flair defeated Sting to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and was recognized as the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. The new championship was not initially represented by its own title belt, and WCW continued to use the NWA World Heavyweight Championship title belt. Because of this, WCW regularly claimed the NWA World Championship lineage for its own championship. Big Gold Belt On July 1, 1991, a creative disagreement with WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd led to Flair leaving WCW for Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation. When Herd refused to return Flair's $25,000 deposit (that was left with the NWA), Flair kept the "Big Gold Belt" that had represented the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. WCW was forced to create its own title belt (a belt owned by Dusty Rhodes from the then-defunct Florida Championship Wrestling used as the PWF Heavyweight Championship with a gold plate tacked on its faceplate with the words "WCW World Heavyweight Champion"), which was awarded to Lex Luger after he defeated Barry Windham in a cage match for the vacant championship at 1991's Great American Bash. Shortly after the Bash, an original WCW World Heavyweight Championship belt was created. In late 1991, The Big Gold Belt was used for the revived NWA World Heavyweight Championship, a co-promotional gimmick between WCW and New Japan Pro Wrestling. However, the original remained with Flair through the remainder of WCW's time in operation. In the 2008 WWE Nature Boy Ric Flair - The Definitive Collection video release, Flair noted that his $25,000 deposit was never returned and that he ended up giving the belt to Triple H as a gift. In September 1993, WCW left the NWA over a dispute regarding the other NWA members demanding that NWA world champion be available for booking, and due to the use of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on syndicated programming recorded months in advance. By fall 1993, Rick Rude was appearing at the "Disney Tapings" as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, despite the fact that in regards to the storyline, Flair was still champion. After leaving the NWA, WCW kept the Big Gold Belt, and it was re-named the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship. Unification as the WCW World Heavyweight Champion]] At Starrcade '93, Flair won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, by defeating Vader. WCW decided to unify the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (represented by the new belt) and International Championship (represented by the "Big Gold Belt"), by having Flair wrestle Sting in June 1994. Flair won and the WCW International Heavyweight belt replaced the old WCW World Heavyweight Championship while the International Heavyweight Championship itself was dropped. When Hulk Hogan entered WCW and won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (now represented by the "Big Gold Belt") from Flair, Hogan helped WCW become the top wrestling company in the United States. By 2001, however, WCW had suffered a succession of failures. During Hogan's 1996–1997 run as champion, the title was spray painted with the NWO initials and referred to by New World Order members as the "nWo" World Heavyweight Championship. When Hogan regained the title in January 1999, the belt was sprayed with nWo again, only this time with red letters to show the unification of nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac. Acquisition by the WWF In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation purchased World Championship Wrestling. Soon after, "The Invasion" took place in which the WCW/ECW Alliance was ultimately dismantled. During the "Invasion", only four WCW titles remained active, including the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which was referred to simply as the "WCW Championship". After the "Invasion" concluded at Survivor Series in 2001, the title was unbranded as the "World Championship". The title was then unified with the WWF Championship at Vengeance where Chris Jericho defeated The Rock and Steve Austin to win the unbranded World Championship and the WWF Championship respectively. As a result, Chris Jericho was recognized as the last WCW World Champion, and he became the first Undisputed Champion in the World Wrestling Federation. See also *List of WCW World Heavyweight Champions *NWA World Heavyweight Championship *WWE Championship *World Heavyweight Championship Category:World Championship Wrestling Category:World Championships Category:Championship belts Category:WWE for Extreme